What Ayurvedic doctors call fire, modern doctors
might call inflammation. In that sense, modern scientific research affirms
Ayurveda’s observation about rose’s cooling qualities, and reveals its
potential in helping heal two of our society’s most dreaded diseases: heart disease and cancer.
These two seemingly unrelated conditions actually
have more in common than just being the top two leading causes of death in the
United States, causing 48 percent of all mortalities each year. Research shows
a link between the two diseases, and chronic inflammation.
The body needs a balance between free radicals,
also called reactive oxygen species, and antioxidant defenses. Reactive oxygen
species are molecules that contain an atom of oxygen that can damage cells. The
body neutralizes these free radicals with antioxidants. An imbalance of
antioxidants in favor of free radicals leads to oxidative stress, which leads
to chronic inflammation that researchers have observed transforms normal cells
into cancer.
In the journal Nature, researchers from the Cancer
Research Institute at the University of California wrote, “Inflammation is a
critical component of tumor progression. Many cancers arise from sites of
infection, chronic irritation and inflammation. It is now becoming clear that
the tumor microenvironment, which is largely orchestrated by inflammatory
cells, is an indispensable participant in the [tumor] process, fostering
proliferation, survival and migration.”
The same mechanism applies to heart disease. There
is “extensive and growing evidence that inflammation participates centrally in
all stages of [atherosclerosis], from the initial lesion to the end-stage
thrombotic complications.” Atherosclerosis is hardening of arteries. End-stage
thrombotic complications may be interpreted as meaning fatal heart attack.
Rose contains numerous anti-inflammatory and
antioxidant compounds that have been shown to combat tumors at early and
advanced stages — yet rose oil is not widely used as a medicinal treatment for
cancer, and is largely disregarded in both scientific literature and among
naturopathic doctors.
Medical research is not the only reason natural
health practitioners use rose oil with breast cancer patients. The mind-body
connection is often missed when doctors begin to treat heart disease or cancer.
Especially breast cancer.
Rose is good for the heart. Not just meaning that
someone buys you roses to say, ‘I love you.’ It’s somewhat similar to hawthorn,
which is in the same family — for a broken heart, loss and grief, lifting
spirits, and helping women feel beautiful,” she said in a phone interview. “It
works with emotions.”
“I don’t treat patients with just rose, but I’ll
use it in a formula with hawthorn, or lily of the valley, or digitalis,” she
said. “But I’ll especially use it if I can correlate it with traumatic emotions
— a loss, for example, if a patient had a divorce and six months later
cardiovascular disease started.”
“A lot of disease processes have a mind-body
link,” said Stills, who works mostly with women, cancer, and autoimmune
diseases. “I spend an hour with every new patient and can often find a
correlation, such as a husband [who] suddenly, tragically died and 6 months
later the disease set in.”
Stills looks at a patient’s emotional state, diet,
exercise habits, and sleep, since lifestyle is often correlated with
inflammatory diseases such as cancer and heart disease. She’s had emotionally
healthy patients who needed to change their diets and exercise more. But often
it’s deeper.
“In TCM, we see life themes with breast cancer.
Often there is a loss of a male. Abuse by a father or uncle, [or they’ve been]
cheated on by [their] husband, bad divorce,” she said.
“Again and again I see givers. You know, women who
are always taking care of others and don’t nurture themselves, and just give,
and give, and give. A breast is meant to love and nurture children. I see women
who never take care of themselves. They’re a doormat.” She paused. “I know it
sounds crazy, but the gift of cancer is having no choice but to take care of
yourself.”
She recalled a breast cancer patient who died, but
who illustrates how important lifestyle and emotional health are. “She was so
strong, and she smoked and ate M&Ms, but she did the emotional work, and
she came to terms with the emotional connection with her cancer. Even though I
wished she would trade the M&Ms for broccoli. Before her treatments she
would stand outside and finish her cigarette.” Stills added that she has many
patients who have cured their cancer, through a mix of natural therapies,
lifestyle changes, and emotional work.
Stills said rose reduces anxiety — and not just
because a medical journal says so. “I will tell patients to go out and buy
roses for themselves, to literally stop and smell the roses. Just stopping to
be mindful, slowing down, being in the moment, decreases anxiety and boosts
mood.”
Women shouldn’t underestimate the power of
self-love, especially with breast cancer. Stills said, “Don’t wait for someone
to buy roses for you.”
No comments:
Post a Comment